In the current art of interactive programming guides (IPGS) for television viewing, when a user receives a set-top box he typically needs to call a call center to have the box activated. The activation process typically includes providing account information and may include a credit check. Once the account has been approved, the set-top box can be activated.
Presently, the only exceptions for this tedious, inconvenient process are add-on services such as WebTV™ and TiVO™, which allow users to activate their services by themselves. However, those systems differ from most television programming providers in that they don't offer a great variety of viewing packages. Instead, such add-on service, typically offer only one or two packages, with one or two payment options each.
The reason programming providers such as cable operators and satellite operators prefer to have the customer call into a call center is that it provides an opportunity to up-sell the client to better, more expensive programming packages, and hence generate more revenue.
What is clearly needed is a system for an automated up-sell process that could interactively query the customer and, based on customer responses, out of the multitude of available packages could then generate suggestions for programming packages designed to appeal to him, thus retaining the advantages for the provider of selling better programming packages to the customer, while avoiding for the customer the inconvenience of having to call into a call center.